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Great Hastur's Ghost! I just got the Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep!


Ars Mysteriorum

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I needed to share my joy! The e-mail from Noble Knight Games stating it was available popped into my gmail account and I snapped it up with reckless abandon.

Has anyone actually played this adventure? Could you tell me about it if so?

"Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..."

- H.P. Lovecraft

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I needed to share my joy! The e-mail from Noble Knight Games stating it was available popped into my gmail account and I snapped it up with reckless abandon.

Has anyone actually played this adventure? Could you tell me about it if so?

It's a really good one. I ran that one two different times, and it went very different both times. Three of my players played both runs through it, and we all had a blast with it.

All games are that way, where the base game written in paper can give you a reasonable idea of what will happen, but it doesn't ever quite work out exactly as you forsee (my group back in high school played the classic adnd 1e mods over and over, and they never turned out the same).

This one really threw me. CoC is a totally different animal than most other rpgs, and it's even more difficult to accurately predict what the pcs will do. The game is so open ended (even with concrete leads peppered throughout) that both runs through this were completely different.

What really threw me was that they nailed it so quick the first time through. They were thinking like 3 steps ahead the whole time, it was amazing. The _second_ time (remember, three of the five had played it less than a year previous) they slogged through it, getting outed, shot up, going insane and generally having a grand olde time doing everything the wrong way.

I don't want to give any of it away. CoC adventures in general, especially this one and a couple others from the same period, are satisfying reads for the GM in prep time. That's saying something. I've read a lot of game material over the years that I feel cheated for the time I spent on it.

The first time was one of the most intellectually satisfying experiences I've had as a gamer. The second time was one of the most consistently hilarious campaigns I've been a part of. I hope you have a good time with it, it's made me smile just remembering it.

121/420

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It's a really good one. I ran that one two different times, and it went very different both times. Three of my players played both runs through it, and we all had a blast with it.

All games are that way, where the base game written in paper can give you a reasonable idea of what will happen, but it doesn't ever quite work out exactly as you forsee (my group back in high school played the classic adnd 1e mods over and over, and they never turned out the same).

This one really threw me. CoC is a totally different animal than most other rpgs, and it's even more difficult to accurately predict what the pcs will do. The game is so open ended (even with concrete leads peppered throughout) that both runs through this were completely different.

What really threw me was that they nailed it so quick the first time through. They were thinking like 3 steps ahead the whole time, it was amazing. The _second_ time (remember, three of the five had played it less than a year previous) they slogged through it, getting outed, shot up, going insane and generally having a grand olde time doing everything the wrong way.

I don't want to give any of it away. CoC adventures in general, especially this one and a couple others from the same period, are satisfying reads for the GM in prep time. That's saying something. I've read a lot of game material over the years that I feel cheated for the time I spent on it.

The first time was one of the most intellectually satisfying experiences I've had as a gamer. The second time was one of the most consistently hilarious campaigns I've been a part of. I hope you have a good time with it, it's made me smile just remembering it.

Woo! This makes me look forward to running it!

"Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..."

- H.P. Lovecraft

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Woo! This makes me look forward to running it!

-Its one of the deadliest adventures in CoC. I heard that nearly none of the start PCs is able to survive it in the long run and you have to plan for replacement PCs on a regular base.

-Its long.

-Some says its extremely good. Some say its bad and very linear. I didnt play it, but after reading it, I think I like it very much and I will surely play it.

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Heh. Having characters survive is not the purpose of this game, in my opinion. The story is the key.

I always require my players to state one relative or friend that they correspond with on a regular basis so there is a replacement character always in the back of their minds.

As far as being linear, this campaign is the first to take players abroad and have them explore areas. A GM has the power to make it as linear or non-linear as he or she feels. Being sure to explain to characters exactly what they are getting into and what kind of adventure it will be will aid the player in shaping the character as necessary to give the player a reason to want to get to the bottom of the whole story.

Now... I haven't received this adventure yet, but in my mind no adventure is meant to be played as written verbatim. It is also the GM's task to give flavor to otherwise two dimensional NPCs and creating others as necessary to fulfill the character's own story-line.

But... as I stated... I have not read the adventure. I am confident that I can make it fit the needs of my group though!

"Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..."

- H.P. Lovecraft

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  • 4 months later...

"In forum threads which sleeping lie, with sudden news even thread death may die!"

:D

I've just picked up the Masks of Nyarlathotep PDF from the Chaosium website for $23 (bargain price at UK exchange rates!). It's the "Third Edition" from 2006 with "the Lost Australian Chapter and Four New Episodes".

Back in my CoC days I regretted never getting hold of this classic baby - now here at last it is, in glorious PDF! At this rate, I might even start up a CoC game... with the BRP rules, of course!

Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay!

Cheers,

Sarah :thumb:

"The Worm Within" - the first novel for The Chronicles of Future Earth, coming 2013 from Chaosium, Inc.

Website: http://sarahnewtonwriter.com | Twitter: @SarahJNewton | Facebook: TheChroniclesOfFutureEarth

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"In forum threads which sleeping lie, with sudden news even thread death may die!"

:D

I've just picked up the Masks of Nyarlathotep PDF from the Chaosium website for $23 (bargain price at UK exchange rates!). It's the "Third Edition" from 2006 with "the Lost Australian Chapter and Four New Episodes".

Back in my CoC days I regretted never getting hold of this classic baby - now here at last it is, in glorious PDF! At this rate, I might even start up a CoC game... with the BRP rules, of course!

Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay!

Cheers,

Sarah :thumb:

Very cool! It's nice to see this content readily available again.

Sadly, my group has dissolved. I doubt I'll be running it any time soon. :(

"Men of broader intellect know that there is no sharp distinction betwixt the real and the unreal..."

- H.P. Lovecraft

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"In forum threads which sleeping lie, with sudden news even thread death may die!"

:D

Oh frabjous day, calloo, callay!

Come, run away / With cabbages and kings!

Brilliant!

Slainte'

Sunwolfe

Present home-port: home-brew BRP/OQ SRD variant; past ports-of-call: SB '81, RQIII '84, BGB '08, RQIV(Mythras) '12,  MW '15, and OQ '17

BGB BRP: 0 edition: 20/420; .pdf edition: 06/11/08; 1st edition: 06/13/08

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Without doubt, the best CoC campaign (though I never played the antarctic one which is meant to be very special also) and probably the most deadly. Egypt ! The group lost 30 player characters. I lost 9 on my own. We also had the quickest player death; literally 30 seconds ! :eek:

so this is it, we're going to die...

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